Within the Blood Dragon Pool, draconic aura roiled and surged repeatedly. The blood water boiled and boiled, its red luster captivating yet scary. Within the pool, a figure was seated cross-legged in complete concentration. It was as though that person had completely forgotten the world around him, fully immersed in cultivation.
A horned lightning snake was coiled around him. The snake seemed to love this environment a lot as he hungrily absorbed the vicious dragon energy in the pool, growing rapidly in the process of doing so.
After an unknown amount of time, the horned lightning snake was no longer satisfied with his current environment and headed deeper into the pool.
The snake was none other than Money. After Xiang Shaoyun had adapted to the environment, Money had left the astral cosmos sea as he also needed the draconic aura here to grow.
Unlike Xiang Shaoyun, he did not need to split the vicious dragon energy and draconic aura into different portions. He could directly refine both types of energy to strengthen his bloodline and increase his strength. Thus, both types of energy worked fine for him.
In fact, he had absorbed much more of the energy than Xiang Shaoyun. After all, he also had the bloodline of the dragons in him, and it helped him better digest the energy in the Blood Dragon Pool. No longer satisfied with his current absorption speed, he headed deeper into the pool.
Deep in the pool, thicker vicious dragon energy could be found. Money ignored the energy and dove deeper, but an incorporeal power suddenly appeared to block him. He clashed against the power repeatedly to no avail.
“Damn it, a restriction has been set here. The dragon bone is definitely down there!” Money grumbled in an unreconciled fashion.
He started swimming around randomly, trying to think of a solution. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of anything.
Left with no choice, he forced the drop of blood essence in his forehead out of his body. He then shouted, “Lord true dragon, please show yourself.”
The blood essence was his life source, and it contained a trace of dragon blood. The moment it appeared, the surrounding vicious dragon energy converged on it, trying to devour it.
Over 1,000 strands of vicious dragon energy bared their fangs like numerous tiny dragons, but they were all swallowed by Money the moment they appeared.
Finally, the area beneath the layer of restriction reacted. Something down there seemed to have sensed blood that was intimate to it, and it started colliding against the restriction as well, trying to reach outside the restriction. The pool started roiling, splashing the blood water everywhere.
Xiang Shaoyun, who was deep in meditation, was roused awake. “What’s going on? What’s the ruckus?”
When he discovered that Money was no longer by his side, he sent his senses out and found that Money was trying to do something at the bottom of the pool. That made him anxious, “This fellow can’t be trying to dig the dragon bone out, right?”
Without any hesitation, he dove deep into the pool, trying to stop Money. However, right as he was about to reach Money, the restriction broke, and a terrifying power surged out.
“Roar!”
A mighty roar rang out, and a supreme true dragon appeared. It blasted Xiang Shaoyun out of the pool, splattering the blood water everywhere.
The earthshaking roar resounded throughout the forbidden grounds, causing the elder in charge of guarding the place to jump in fright. The first elder had been here observing, and his face paled as well. He quickly flew toward the Blood Dragon Pool.
The Blood Dragon Pool might not be worth much for these elders, but it was extremely important for the Holy Hall. They could not allow anything to happen to it.
“What’s going on?” the first elder asked the guardian elder.
“I don’t know. The draconic aura suddenly surged, as if a true dragon had appeared. I suspect the restriction on the dragon bone has been broken,” said the guardian elder as he looked at the massive dragon projection hovering above the pool. His expression was solemn.
“The dragon bone has been unsealed?” the first elder was astonished. His gaze then landed on the sorry-looking Xiang Shaoyun and asked, “Holy son-in-law, what happened?”
Xiang Shaoyun had been immediately saved by the guardian elder the moment he was sent flying out of the pool. Otherwise, he would have been in a much sorrier state.
“I’ll seal this place up first. We can’t allow the dragon bone to be lost,” said the guardian elder before Xiang Shaoyun could reply.
Xiang Shaoyun quickly said, “Elder, please wait a moment. My brother is down there.”
“What is going on exactly?” the first elder repeated.
Xiang Shaoyun explained, “A brother of mine is a mutated silver lightning snake. He has a trace of dragon blood in him, and he was the one who caused this change to happen.”
“Trace of dragon blood? The dragon bone must have sensed a familiar aura and charged out of the restriction,” said the first elder with a frown. He reached out and sent an incorporeal palm toward the pool.
Xiang Shaoyun cried out anxiously, “First elder, don’t harm him.”
The first elder did not reply. With a flick of his wrist, Money was fished out of the pool. He was currently busy wolfing down a dragon bone that was so large he could only swallow about one-third of the bone.
“Bastard! He’s swallowing the dragon bone! Spit it out!” the guardian elder roared furiously.
The elder was about to attack when the first elder stopped him. The first elder tightened his grip on Money’s throat, forcing the dragon bone out. Money was completely incapable of offering any resistance. He could only stare blankly as the dragon bone fell into the pool again.
Then, he was tossed to Xiang Shaoyun’s side. The crash caused his head to ring, but he was still safe. After a short while, he recovered and glared at the first elder in a displeased manner. “Why did you snatch my dragon bone?”
“That dragon bone is not yours. Fortunately, you haven’t swallowed it whole, or you would be dead for sure,” said the first elder.
“Hmph. Since the bone of lord true dragon has acknowledged me, it is mine,” said Money resentfully.
“Money, stop talking. This is the restricted zone of the Holy Hall. Everything here belongs to them,” Xiang Shaoyun said.
Only then did Money shut up. He shrank his body and returned to Xiang Shaoyun’s body.
As for Xiang Shaoyun, he apologized, “Elders, I’m really sorry. Money did not do it on purpose.”
“Holy son-in-law, you need to keep it in control. If it had swallowed the bone, this pool would have been ruined,” the guardian elder reminded him.
“Yes, I will keep my eyes on him,” said Xiang Shaoyun with a nod.
The first elder suddenly shifted the topic, “Holy son-in-law, are you going to enter the pool again?”
Xiang Shaoyun shook his head and smiled. “No. It won’t do much anymore. Although I can still grow more by using it, my foundations will suffer. This is the perfect time to stop.”
